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 Today’s devices count calories, measure sleep patterns and monitor
heart rates as well as steps. Fitness experts predict their
popularity and usefulness will grow as they become more
sophisticated.
“Two big changes to fitness trackers since last year is that more of
them now support heart rate monitoring and several of them have
smartwatch functionality,” said Jill Duffy, a senior analyst at the
computer magazine PCMag.com.
She said smartphone functionality means, for example, showing
incoming text messages from one’s smartphone on the tracker itself.
“The upcoming Apple Watch, which is due out in January, will be both
a complete smartwatch and fitness tracker, and will include heart
rate data,” Duffy said.
Consumers bought an estimated 84 million fitness tracking devices in
2013, ranging in price from $49 to $200, according to the analyst
group IHS technology. It predicts that number will grow beyond 120
million by 2019.
“Even with all the options for fitness trackers, we’re still early
in the game,” said Neal Pire, an exercise physiologist with the
American College of Sports Medicine.
He said tracking information and storing it in the cloud for easy
access helps some, but not all exercisers stay on track.
“There are people who work really well with keeping a food or
exercise log,” he explained. “Others are not only disinterested:
they hate it.”
Los Angeles-based trainer Shirley Archer agreed but added their use
is not always long lasting.
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“Surveys show that as of September 2013, one in 10 American adults
wore a fitness tracker,” said Archer, author of “Fitness 9 to 5.”
But 30 percent of people who buy a device, no longer use it within
six months. To select a tracker, Archer suggests considering three
factors - how it is intended to be used, where it will be worn and
how much data will be tracked.
She also said novices should begin with a simple model, establish a
baseline, and try to gradually increase those levels.
Duffy envisions a time when trackers will focus more on overall
health than exercise.
“Imagine if your doctor had access to your heart rate information
over the last 60 days and could see when a change occurred?” she
said. “That's why all these trackers are meaningful in the long
run.”
(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Andrew Hay)
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